Author: Nami-chan.
Pairing : :DateSana, MotoMoto, KoSasu, IeMitsu, and some other I won't spoil
Disclaimers : I think we all would like to have the on right Sengoku Basara, but it's not my case
Dragon Tales Book Two
Part 21
A wind of quietness was blowing over the arid Mikawa cliffs. It was in these places that the Tokugawa clan had built its fortress, yet the cliffs seemed far from the war that had begun to change the country.
A visitor couldn't help but admire the architecture and ingenuity of the constructions made to protect the clan. All of it wasn't visible at first glance though. The land, however, is all in relief and many ingenious contraption had to be made to help the soldiers. However, an enemy soldier arriving at the first door of Mikawa in the middle of an afternoon couldn't reach the other end before dark. Ieyasu assured that this fortress was well guarded and difficult to take.
The contraptions went from a simple trap to catapults hidden behind high wooden palisades. Zip lines connected guard posts between them, a great time saver when it came to move goods, merchandises or communicates orders between men.
Gold and yellow adorning the flag of the Mikawa soldiers were reminiscent of those land's colors.
At the top was a wooden and windswept tower, where most of the vegetation was growing in the gorges around, where farmers had installed their rice fields and culture. In spring, fruit trees would let their delicate petals fall all around and the landscape would entirely change even if ti was for a short time; it was a truly a sight to see.
It was there Ieyasu liked to go when he was free. From here he could see everything that extended over the area of his ancestors.
For several days now, the autumn rain had beaten the cliffs and thick clouds had covered the sun. Returning from his recent battle with a new ally, one more lord rallied under the banner of the East, Ieyasu seemed to have brought back the sun with him on his land.
Then he allowed himself to enjoy one of the rare moments of respite that war could give him. Today no one had come to report a new warlord forced into Mitsunari's rank, no one had come to him imploring his help.
Fear of the king of misfortune was preening in their eyes.
Even Tadakatsu , which usually rarely took his eyes away from him, had given him a little alone time.
But it wouldn't be because he had free time, that Ieyasu was the kind of man to remain idle. He shared this with Yukimura, although he wasn't as tireless as the young Tiger Kai.
The top of the highest tower was an ideal place for some training. Here Ieyasu could beat the air, jump and do exercises without slowing the work of those who maintained the life of the fort.
It was carrying a powerful cathartic effect on him.
Beating the air with his fists, his muscles starting to heat from the stress, Ieyasu had started to reflect on thing. He thought about his dream that he saw more and more clearly, that little by little, as the alliance of the East grew, became a reality. He still sometimes had doubts, like now.
All these sacrifices, where they... no, it was wrong to have doubt when he was this close to archive something, being aware of what he had left behind to get here was enough. He will always carry it with him and it was from there that he would come out as grown up.
However Ieyasu knew it would need some more time to accept the fact that Mitsunari, the person who stole his heart and whom he loved the most in the world hated him with all his being because of his choice. Innocent blood shed between them was proof enough that they couldn't go back to where they were. Part of him continued to believe that he could make Mitsunari forget his past crimes, he wanted to show him this country in peace so much.
Yet Mitsunari continued to oppose him, going as far as forming an entire alliance to stop and kill him.
Since when had Mitsunari became the last obstacle to that peace he was aspiring to?
It was useless to lie to himself, each new day that flowed only served to show that peace can only be pronounced once Mitsunari defeated. Ieyasu also felt that the time of their final meeting was approaching ... he couldn't postpone the confrontation any longer.
Soon he will have to make a choice again, or fate would chooses for him.
Suddenly a bright flash of blue caught his attention, it seemed that something was up and down the cliffs. Another blue flash arose, higher this time. Left breathless after his last katas, Ieyasu couldn't suppress a smile though.
Even if he had enjoyed his day of rest, the truth was that he was beginning to get bored.
"Lord Ieyasu" one of the guards who had just joined him at the top of the tower launched.
Ieyasu gave sometime to the man while he was panting for breath after the series of steps he had climbed. Folding his arms across his chest, he waited.
"Lord ... huff ... The lord Date his attacking us with a small group of riders. The Lord Tadakatsu was pursuing him but Date is-" The man stopped himself after seeing his lord's beaming smile. He blinked in astonishment.
The blue flash was truly what Ieyasu had thought it was then. He had felt this combative aura that animated the dragon. The prospect of facing such an opponent made Ieyasu glad. A fight with Date was a true warrior battle, man to man without blood lust and murder involved. He had needed that. Understanding that his smile surprised the soldier, Ieyasu resumed.
The astonishment of the soldier stopped when his lord lips tightened to form a more dangerous and combative expression. He saw him clench his fists as if preparing to meet with the head of this imprudent and fierce Masamune.
"Let him through. I want to Tadakatsu and the men save their strength. Date didn't come here to invade us." Ieyasu was certain even if he couldn't tell what compelled him to thing so, maybe his past of an apprentice of the occult sciences had left some sense of intuition in him. He went on, "But make sure to slow him down. We should show him what it cost to provoke Mikawa soldiers. I'll take care of the rest."
The soldier immediately understood what his lord had in mind. He bowed before going in the opposite direction to transmit his orders to the high ranked soldiers. It seemed that Ieyasu's smile was contagious because the man was now wearing one too, his morale boosted by his lord's enthusiasm.
Another bright flash exploded nearby, increasingly close to the tower. Date sure was fast, Ieyasu conceded.
Ieyasu rolled his shoulders, cracked the joints of his nape loudly and continued to warm up in anticipation of the one-eyed Dragon arrival.
"If it's a good fight you are looking for, you'll be served, king of the dragons." he asserted, displaying a confident smile.
Masamune seemed to have much fun on his side. From the moment when the first group of guards had tried to stop the him a the base of the cliffs, he was determined to make an entrance in style. Namely, sending everybody flying until Ieyasu finally came to meet him. At least if Ieyasu didn't come down from his perch this little fight will compensate his affront to Masamune by forcing him to climb all the way to greet him.
Piercing the enemy lines, his sword pointed in guard before him, Masamune was progressing quickly, nobody giving him trouble.
"Hah! Was there someone here who can hold more than ten seconds against me?" he launched at all who can hear him.
At his side, Kojuuro was finishing putting down a small group of three enemies, breaking their formation. His disapproval was showing on his face. He sighed heavily while pinning back a few wayward strands that fell on his forehead.
"Masamune-sama, perhaps it would have been wiser to request a more conventional meeting and to-"
"Whatever, we don't have all day, Kojuuro!" Masamune interrupted him before running toward another small group of soldiers.
A shadow jumped next to them, and with a swift move eliminated an opponent who had tried to get up.
"His he always like this?" Sasuke asked, catching his flying shuriken.
The two men looked at Masamune push through Mikawa forces while the men seemed to fly in all directions around him. The only answer Kojuuro gave was to let out a sigh as he took his sword in both hands, and rushed after Masamune.
"I ally myself with those who deserves it!" Masamune asserted when the two men were back within earshot, "Date Masamune obey to no one, you see?" and he wasn't even tarting to lose his breath.
Sasuke and Kojuuro remained silent, exchanging a glance and a shrug. They would do with it.
"This guy his a public danger." Sasuke muttered though.
He hadn't expected for a sudden blue lightning to force him to call on his reflexes and bend down to dodge .
"Hey!" he threw out.
"Shut up!" Masamune replied. "Don't stand so close to me."
Sasuke was almost tempted to pull his tongue out to him, but it was to lower himself to the level of this capricious child. So he merely throw him a heated glare, implicitly shouting that he knew Masamune did that on purpose.
With a side kick, Kojuuro neutralized the last of the attackers from the unit. Usually, he could efficiently protect Masamune back considering his tendency to rush in, but now if he also had to deal with a childish Sasuke Kojuuro knew his patience wouldn't last. Comment on this fact was about to come out of his mouth but Masamune decided otherwise, as he was already rushing to a small tower guarded by few men terrorized at their approach.
These men objected a bit more resistance than the previous one though, determined to guard that small tower even if it looked harmless. Masamune went alone behind the building, but both Sasuke and Kojjuro also had noticed what stirred his curiosity.
It was a long cable with a pulley-like device looking like something Motochika could have invented to effortlessly hoist the sails of his ships The cable was stretched between two wooden buildings each on opposite sides of the cliff, passing over the gap.
"This look good, using this can help us win some time." Masamune commented.
Kojuuro didn't even need to look at the gap between the cliffs below them to protest.
"It's too dangerous, there nothing but void beneath your feet." he began.
"Yahou !"
He hadn't had the time to finish his sentence that Masamune had already jumped, his arms hanging from the pulley, he had let himself down easily along the cable and was already a small blue and black dot landing on the other side.
Kojuuro hesitated between following him through the air using the zip-line , following him by land or screaming in frustration. But it wasn't in his character to make much fuss when it was already to late. He just hoped Masamune would learn to be less reckless in the future.
Hope made him live on.
"Better and better." Sasuke said while pointing at the sky with his finger, a worried grin pursing his lips.
A whirring sound made Kojuuro look in the direction the ninja pointed. He knew only one person in the whole country who could emit such a metallic sound of gear turning and electricity buzzing, and that person wasn't to take lightly.
"Honda Tadakatsu. We must keep him away from Masamune-sama." he said before leaving in pursuit of the iron giant as he passed over without seeing them.
Still fallowing in the samourai's shadow, Sasuke sneered. "You reprimands him but in truth you love his reckless side, right?" he commented.
"No is not the time to joke." Kojuuro growled out.
"I miss Yukimura. At least, he can take a little teasing." Sasuke stated, showing a false pout.
At these words Kojuuro smirked. "You can tease him all you want when we'll bring him back from Ishida."
"I will torture him, you mean." Sasuke replied.
Despite their light conversation, the two men weren't the least worried. They had already caught back to Tadakatsu and yet he continued to advance by hovering over them, pursuing Masamune.
"He won'tt go down if we don't give him a little push." Sasuke said more seriously.
Taking his Shuriken firmly in hand, he gained some momentum by performing an acrobatic jump on the ground, not hesitating to impress Kojuuro if he could at the same time. His weapon left his fingers, swirling in the air, flying high and fast toward the target.
The two men heard a sort of clank when the weapon touched Tadakatsu and black smoke escaped from the device stuck to his back that allowed him to fly. The steady hum of its engine began making crackling sounds, almost resembling distress noises, as if a kind of alarm was triggered. Tadakatsu then turned his head towards the ground, seeing the other two as they adopted a fighting stance ready to receive him.
The earth shook and a cloud of dust rose up when he landed in front of them. The ninja and samurai waited for him while he grasped his huge and heavy spear to attack them.
Both turned around the giant, each attacking one of his sides with astonishing sync if we considered the fact that they were more often opposed to one another that allying.
But it was probably the fact that both were often opposed that caused Kojuuro and Sasuke to instinctively knew how the other would react.
However it took nothing but a simple gesture from Tadakatsu to stop them both, pushing them several meters away. As if expecting them to do a new attempt to approach, Tadakatsu struck the ground with his spear, inviting them silently.
Again, Kojuuro and Sasuke exchanged glances. Even with their strengths joined the battle was far from won. Honda Tadakatsu wasn't dubbed the strongest in the country to war for nothing.
At least they both knew they could hold him long enough for Masamune to state his deal with Ieyasu.
A cracking sound startled them, alerting the duo that Tadakatsu wasn't going to content in defending himself. Then as if following their train of thought, he knelt down. The box on his back that Sasuke had it with his shuriken continued smoking but still managed to open itself, releasing several small flying objects. The objects looked like scale models of Tadakatsu's spear. They quickly whirled around him to come form a kind of advanced protection.
The technology Honda used escaped Kojuuro, but he could still feel danger when he saw one.
"Looks like we're not going to be enough of two." Sasuke asserted, also admitting that he wouldn't be strong enough. "I 'm not as strong as Oyakata-sama."
Following his own words, Sasuke turned on himself and disappeared in a cloud of leaves appearing from no were. Gradually, the leaves turned into shadows, then shadows divided into two equal parts on each side of the ninja as he reappeared.
And a moment later, they were no longer two but four facing Tadakatsu. Sasuke's shadow clones each slapped in the original's outstretched hands.
It wasn't the first time that Kojuuro saw Sasuke use this ploy, yet he seemed slightly impressed.
Together, they resumed the fight. Kojuuro positioned himself to attack by the right flank while Sasuke was attacking the front, one clone had gone to left while the other had propelled himself on Sasuke's shoulders to get behind Tadakatsu.
Observing the scene a few meters away, a tall man alighted down from his horse probably tired after a long journey. The man used his hand on his forehead to protect his eyes from the sun and see what was going on farther. He had been alerted by loud voices and many flashing lights and had quickly understood that it was better not to approach.
Behind him, a girl hopped on her toes to try to see over his large shoulder. Perky, she told him,
"Shouldn't we go help him? I mean, this man his really really tall and big and all that but they are four against him, huh Keiji ?"
For a long second, Keiji seems to ponder Tsuruhime words.
"Narukami" Kojuuro voice was heard, followed by a powerful and blinding lightning flash.
Keiji shook his head uncertainly. "Nah, I think it's better not to get involved this time. Let's go find Ieyasu."
Resuming his walk he made sure Tsuruhime didn't touch her bow still attached to the horse saddle, using his most imposing stature to hide the scene from the girl's innocent.
She groaned and protested, dragging her feet and still tried to see what was going on. Having no choice but to yield Keiji insistence, she too continued to walk on the tortuous path Mikawa cliffs. A pout had displayed on her face, she was frustrated.
Seeing her so upset not to be able to help Tadakatsu, Keiji felt compelled to emphasize the reason for his refusal.
"Look, I gladly helped you when you insisted that we come to helps this merchant which was attacked by robbers, and I still helped to recover the goods when you realize that we were mistaken and that the robbers were in fact the real merchants. This time I prefer not to. And it's rude to interrupt a fight between men. " Keiji stated.
Tsuruhime dug her heels into the ground, crossing her arms over her chest, she turned her head dismissively.
"You men with your duels! It wasn't my fault !You too have thought that deceitful brigand was a merchant getting mugged! Normally brigands don't roam alone and I'm sure they don't get beaten by the merchants they attack! " she defended herself.
In an angry air she began to move ostentatiously, going ahead of Keiji before stopping abruptly. Her hands joined in prayer when Tsuruhime turned back to Keiji.
"My whole body tremble! My intuition tells me that I'm about to find something great." she suddenly said an exalted look on her face.
She said this with such joy in her eyes that Keiji could swear to have seen the stars in them.
"You see, when you listen to me." he replied.
On the one-eyed dragon side, he had crossed what he thought was a checkpoint. Or at least a gathering place if he were judging by the number of soldiers who fell on him there. For the first time since Masamune had entered Mikawa it was at that moment he felt minimal difficulty.
It was also the only time he had released his six claws. Even if it only lasted a few moments.
The guard of the door was now looking at him in fright, his beady eyes going from the spear cut in half between his hands to the triumphant smirk on Masamune's face.
"Open the door." the dragon said.
Terrified as he faced the powerful and charismatic dragon, the man stood up unsteadily, squealing with fear when he activated the opening mechanism.
"Thanks." Masamune replied casually when he went through.
The man collapsed instantly after Masamune came out of his field of vision. Almost crying in memory of the fear he had felt. Then his eyes began to roam around him as one by one, more or less groggy and hurting, the soldiers who tried to stand up to the lord Date were rising, moaning and complaining of pain that would certainly take time to heal .
The poor soldier blinked. Around him was a slaughter, crumbling walls, collapsed tower, craters on the ground and whole rock smashed to dust. A single man was responsible for all this ... and yet, was he dreaming that not one soldier had been killed?
After running on a narrow path with huge gap on each side, Masamune had finally arrived at what appeared to be the last guard before the main tower.
Left open.
It seemed that Tokugawa's men weren't trying to stop him anymore. It was better that way. It wasn't with small fry that Masamune would prove he could be the equal to their Lord.
Without anyone intercepts him, he presented himself facing the tower, raising his head to look up to the top. Masamune's ears had picked up noise from above. No doubt it was Ieyasu.
The tower was rather high, so when Ieyasu suddenly jumped to join him he sure was surprised.
The shock of this somewhat rough descent made the ground vibrate. Ieyasu straightened after landing, his legs having cushioned his fall and his physical strength having protected a possible backlash. He showed a smiling face to Masamune.
"I was expecting you Dokuganryu." he announced while hitting his fist together.
"Hey, it looks like the midget kid took some stripe. That's a praise, you know."
The last time Ieyasu and Masamune had seen each others, they were still celebrating their victory over the demon Oda Nobunaga. At that time Ieyasu was still a teenager, carrying his spear like a prayer stick. Masamune found himself happy to see he had grown to be a fine looking man.
From this period Ieyasu had kept his easy smile and some curves on his cheeks, for the rest he had earned several centimeters in size and muscle circumference. Ieyasu had also dropped the spear, symbol of the legacy of his family, it was enough for Masamune to understand that must had also abandoned the practice of occult arts.
"Tsk." He clicked his tongue before he could prevent himself, disappointed.
Ieyasu was the only person he knew who could possibly help him to exorcise Orochi. This fact annoyed Masamune beyond reason when they hadn't even discussed this with the former omnyoji.
"What brings you here?" Ieyasu asked, cutting short to the staring contest between them.
"The Easter alliance." Masamune bluntly replied.
Arching an eyebrow dubiously, Ieyasu expressed his astonishment. "This isn't like you to get help for anything, one-eyed Dragon."
"I can't move on if I don't do it." Masamune thought, making mysterious assertion.
Nodding, Ieyasu seemed to perfectly understand what Masamune was trying to say without being able to formulate it. He saw no objection to welcome a valuable ally like Masamune to join him in his alliance toward a country consolidated through bonds.
As he was about to agree, Masamune pointed his sword at him.
"Let us fight first, Tokugawa Ieyasu. I'll make an alliance with you once I have proven that we are to stand equal in battle. This is my condition to join you, I obey to no one, you see? " he repeated.
Far from being impressed by the threat of a sharp blade so close to his throat, Ieyasu let out a slight laugh.
"There I recognize you here, I accept this duel Date Masamune."
Without further ado, he withdrew Masamune sword with a closed fist, the metal letting out a clear sound in contact with his golden gauntlet.
Masamune took a quick step on side and split the air with a side strike. Ieyasu blocked the blow, his gauntlet again deviating the blow from it's deadly trajectory.
This didn't seem to please Masamune who attacked once and again this time adding more strength and precision. Acting to fast, he never expected opponent response quick response as Ieyasu send his fist meet with his ribs he had left exposed for a split second.
Hell, he had forgotten that Kojuuro wasn't here to protect his back.
Regardless, Masamune just needed a little time to force his body and his fighting technique to adjust to the lack of Kojuuro. He was used to feel pain after all, and it was only because he was still suffering from the wounds inflicted by Mitsunari that he winced in pain after the impact. Ignoring this tingling, Masamune continued to overwhelm Ieyasu with faster and faster sword strike.
He was so fast that blue reminiscence followed his movements, the sun dancing on the shimmering surface of his sword and creating lighting effects.
Ieyasu responded to every blow. He didn't even seem impressed by the speed with which Masamune chained his attacks. Mitsunari had for a long time been his training partner and even though his styles differed greatly with Masamune's, the silver haired general was the fastest man Ieyasu ever had as opponent. Masamune should find something else if he wanted to surprise him.
Still, Masamune seemed glad to be able to fight against him in full strength. This dragon was alive in battle. Warmed up after the soldiers who had tried to slow him down, Masamune finally found an opponent to his size. And he wouldn't hesitate to go for it.
His pleasure could almost be touched.
Taking advantage of a skirmish in which he blocked completely Ieyasu fists against his sword, preventing any other movement than a step back, Masamune took the opportunity to openly taunt Ieyasu.
"Not bad, but you are half a century too early to stop me." he said.
True to his words, Masamune continued the fight with a move that completely surprised Ieyasu. Deploying his six claws, he made a horizontal slash, forcing Ieyasu to retreat back to avoid it. Then, a second later he brought all his claws in one of his hands before jumping and using the momentum he won to fall with all his weight on Ieyasu. Sword raised.
"Phantom Dive!"
Ieyasu barely managed to avoid the attack, crossing his arms at his face to protect himself from the blow. It was too late for him to realize that touching him wasn't Masamune goal at all. The blue dragon sword crashed against the ground stirring the earth before him and a violent shock wave raced at full speed toward Ieyasu.
The young lord was unable to dodge this time. Hit hard, he heavily fell on the ground, gasping. The stars danced before his eyes as he tried to regain his senses and understand what had happened. A few cottony clouds spun in the brightening sky.
A black-gloved hand stretched toward him entering his field of vision. With all the confidence in the world, he didn't hesitate and grabbed it, letting himself up onto his feet by Masamune strength.
"Even Sanada Yukimura rarely resist this move, so don't be too disappointed." Masamune stated, a true air of contentment on his face.
Ieyasu began to find back the normal functioning of his lungs, so he answered. "Welcome to the Eastern alliance, Dokuganryu."
Ooooooooooooooooooo
Tired of waiting and tired of his journey, Motochika had obviously ended up dozing until Mitsunari deign to meet him. The steps leading to the courtroom wasn't really a suitable place in addition to being absolutely not comfortable, but they had provided adequate support for a nap.
It wasn't as if he had a choice, sleep having just caught him before he realized it.
The blow dealt to his side, however he noticed it. He didn't completely woke up at first though, he was just so tired and it was just too hard to open his eyes yet.
"Chosokabe !" someone exclaimed.
He wouldn't have responded if the voice wasn't accompanied by a much stronger kick. This time it was a reflex to straighten up suddenly, his eye opening.
"Hey!" he protested before realizing it.
A pair of hazel eyes blinked before him. A delicate pair of hazel eyes decorating the most beautiful and delicate face that Motochika had been given to contemplate. That face was attached to a smaller, slimmer body than his, adorned with two red triangles on top of a head held highly with a royal presence.
"Motonari !" he gasped out, not believing his eye.
Acting on impulse, Motochika threw his arm around Motonari, reassured by the familiar way with which the young man was fitting against his body. For a moment, he had the impression that his heart had warmed up too much and that his whole body was burning. The pounding on his chest was almost unbearable.
"Are you all right? I'm so happy to see you. I was mad with worry. I thought I lost you. Even if I somehow knew you were alive. Don't ever do that again or I'll kill you myself." He no longer controlled his speech rate, his body submerged all over by new and unknown emotions when he confirmed that it was indeed his beloved he was holding in his arms.
He knew Motonari well enough so Motochika should have known how the kitsune would react to this sudden outpouring.
A knee in his private made him realize Motonari, forcing him to take his crotch between his hands by reflex to nurse his poor bruised limb.
"Idiot Pirate ." Motonari muttered, out of habit. "It is forbidden to lay hands on a Xavi's disciple, be aware of that Chosokabe. My unfortunate gesture could have been avoided but it is obvious that you aren't the most educated person in his place, so I forgive you for this time. " he reeled.
Surprised by Motonari words, Motochika blinked to try to see more clearly and remove the tears that had begun to bead on his eyelashes, disturbing his vision.
"You know this individual? Let him learn that those who dishonor Hideyoshi-sama's castle thinking they could sleep wherever they please only deserve to be punished." interjected a voice that Motochika heard for the first time.
"Forgive him lord Ishida, he is a bit rude and his manners aren't nearly as civilized as yours but he too deserves Xavi's love." Motonari went on.
Motochika sight finally clarified and he stared at the other man. "Ishida Mitsunari." he whispered, while bending his head to observe the smaller man from every angle, trying this find those eyes Yukimura told him about.
The insistence with which Motochika was watching him and how he pronounced his name made Mitsunari uncomfortable so he kept avoiding the other gaze, turning his head away. It was a Bad start for Motochika, for Mitsunari was already feeling hatred at this man.
Motochika was going to learn the hard way that it was a very bad thing to be on Mitsunari's wrong side.
"I love that look, it's decided then. I'll make an alliance with you." Motochika stated.
At least, Motochika had just won a few points in Mitsunari esteem.
TBC
Nothing much to say about this chapter. I like it. It's not often that I feel satisfied at my work.
Thank you very much for reading.